Bhubaneswar: Police have successfully cracked the kidnapping case of Nimananda Pradhan, Vice-President of Grewal Mineral and Metals, Barbil in Keonjhar.
Seven accused were arrested by the police. The accused are Md. Firoz (50) of Keonjhar, Sarfraj Ansari (45) of Ranchi, Bhudhendranath Singha (55) of Kolkata, Rajendra Paswan (53) of Bihar, Jamil Aktar (48) of Ranchi, Farha Parbin (50) of Ranchi, Sadab Naubahar (46) of Chakradharpur area in Jharkhand.
According to a police statement, Pradhan was kidnapped on February 12 and a ransom of Rs 60 lakhs was paid by his family.
The police investigation revealed that Md. Firoz, the assistant driver of Pradhan’s vehicle, was involved in the kidnapping. Firoz had conspired with Babu alias Md. Sahdab, a notorious criminal from Jharkhand, to kidnap Pradhan for ransom.
The police formed 12 teams and launched a massive manhunt by camping in different places in Jharkhand, Bihar, and West Bengal for over eight days. The operation led to the arrest of 7 accused persons, including Firoz and Sahdab.
The police have recovered Rs 50,90,000 of the ransom amount, along with several items, including a toy pistol, a motorcycle, and mobile phones. The investigation was led by Additional S.P. Keonjhar, Manoj Kumar Rout, along with IIC Barbil Ashok Nayak.
